The greatness of a particular football club is measured not only by the names of the players, the number of goals scored, the total number of people in the fan zones, but also by the number of trophies won. In European club football, the most important tournament that deserves respect among all dedicated footballers is the Champions League. Therefore, our article brings together the clubs that have taken this trophy (and the European Champions Cup before the reform of the tournament) the most times and can rightfully be considered the greatest teams in Europe.
By the way, today you can bet on top football events through a safe au casino. Licensed gambling clubs offer bonuses to newcomers, which will help you to take risks and not lose too much.
Barcelona
This team is a relatively recent grandee of European football and was able to win its first title only in 1992. Then several events coincided at once, tied exactly to the capital of Catalonia. It was in this year that Cruyff reached the highest level of coaching, which allowed him and his team to become the best in Europe.
And it was in 1992 that the Barcelona Olympics took place, which also gave impetus to the development of the city’s main football team. There were no big names in it then, but the football club was a united whole, which allowed it to triumph throughout the tournament and win the last European Champions Cup before its transformation into the Champions League. The other 4 titles were all won in the era of the magical Messi and other talents.
Liverpool
The English football club became a true legend in the middle of the 20th century, winning the hearts of fans all over the world, not limited to England. The first trophies of the Merseyside team in the main European tournament came in the late 70’s, when it shone with such iconic figures as Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Terry McDermott. During that period, Liverpool were virtually second to none.
However, from the 1990s onwards, the club faced difficulties in the English Championship and the only source of joy for the Reds remained the international arena, where they sometimes displayed fantastic football. The 2005 final in Istanbul will always be remembered as the greatest comeback in Champions League history, when the team came back from 0-3 down.
Bayern
The German machine started to dominate in full force also in the mid-70s. In general, this time is marked by the awakening of many teams that began to declare themselves in full voice. Munich won the European Champions Cup three times in a row, putting them in line with two other greats who managed to do the same before the German team. They were Ajax Amsterdam with Johan Cruyff and Real Madrid with Ferenc Puskás.
Bayern had their heroes, one of which is the greatest striker of all time, Gerd Muller. Players and coaches changed, but the playing concept never went anywhere. At the turn of the century Bayern were close to another title, but it was literally seconds away from winning it, as Manchester United with Alex Ferguson in 1999 scored 2 goals in stoppage time and literally snatched the coveted trophy from under Bayern’s noses.
Milan
The Milan team began to demonstrate its power in the early 60s, when Italian club football reached a new level and was able to compete with the leading teams of Spain and England of that time. Stars such as Jose Altafini, who scored hat-tricks without fatigue, shone in the squad.
Although a generation of these players left, new talents soon appeared, who in the 90s simply destroyed the opponents’ defences. In the late 80’s, Milan formed a Dutch trio – Rijkard, Van Basten and Gullit. These players for almost a decade remained the main force in European football.
After their departure, the club continued to develop its school of Italian players and acquired a unique talent in the person of Andriy Shevchenko from Ukraine. It was he who played a key role in Milan’s Champions League victories in 2003 and 2007.
Real Madrid
At the top of our ranking is a unique Spanish club that was unrivalled in the 1960s. Players such as Ferenc Puskás and Alfredo Di Stefano have made club football history forever. The Madrid team had won five consecutive titles since the tournament’s inception, and it seemed that they would hold the trophy forever. However, competition soon emerged and victories became much harder to come by.
There have been many difficult periods in the history of the royal club, but in the last decade Real has confirmed its status as the most successful football club of the century. It has managed to win the tournament twice since its transformation into the Champions League (since 1993), something no-one has managed to do for more than 20 years. But Real did not stop there – it won the trophy three times in a row, once again confirming its greatness in European club football.
